


Ballad

by skinnedkneedmisfit



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Infidelity, Multi, Punk Band Au, Recreational Drug Use, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-07-05 14:02:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15865065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skinnedkneedmisfit/pseuds/skinnedkneedmisfit
Summary: All Namine wanted was a cover band for her wedding. All Roxas wanted was to make his fiancee happy. All Axel wanted was to be heard.Originally written and posted on ffdotnet in 2008. Revised and reposted ~2015. Please read author's notes.





	1. Breakthru

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends and potential newcomers!
> 
> Ballad is a story very near and dear to my heart. I started writing and posting it when I was in college in 2008. A few years later, I was feeling self-conscious about my fan creations and ended up deleting this fic from ffdotnet. I felt sorry that there were people out there who liked this fic and wanted to read it again, but no completed version out there to share. So I reposted the fic to ffdotnet in 2015, with fresh edits and completely new chapters. Since I've moved completely to ao3, I've wanted to post it here as well.
> 
> I acknowledge that this fic was written in A Different Time and contains some themes and ships that might be considered "problematic" by today's standards (honestly, if today's me saw the tags for this fic I'd probably gloss over it and carry on). Please, if anything in the tags or the ships being represented makes you feel uncomfortable or unhappy in anyway, please turn away. This isn't a space for negative opinions.
> 
> That being said, despite the warnings, the story has a happy ending for everyone involved. It's a dramatic whirlwind but I wanted the main theme to be "No matter how much you fuck up, everything can still turn out alright." Fair warning: this fic's like a 700/800ish page long punk band au. With lyrics and everything. Have fun!

**xxxxx**

**Ballad  
** **Chapter One**

**"Breakthru"**

**xxxxx**

Roxas came from a long line of quick thinkers and fast doers. His father, Cloud, was married to his wife Aerith when he was eighteen. They got married when they were still in high school. His older brother, Sora, was conceived over the honeymoon. In fact, it was odd that Cloud and Aerith waited two years before deciding to have another child, which was where Roxas came from. He was born on November fourteenth. Exactly nine months after Valentines Day. Roxas didn't like to ponder about it too much.

Stated earlier, Roxas had a brother, Sora. Exactly two years, two months, and two hours older than himself. Roxas was bad at math, so once again, for entirely different reasons, he chose not to think about it too much. Sora had married a girl he had met in college, a delightful redhead named Kairi, after only knowing her four months. Cloud said that four was two times two, and Two was their lucky number, which was why he and Aerith didn't have any more children after Roxas, but the youngest child simply assumed that his mother was tired with two children and not even reaching the legal drinking age.

Roxas and Sora looked alike. Spitting images of each other, save that Sora had his mother's cocoa brown hair and Roxas was gifted with his father's legendary golden locks. Sora and Roxas thought a lot alike. Their favorite movie was _The Graduate_ , their favorite food was sandwiches, and they both refused to eat at McDonalds, but thought Burger King was just fine. They shared every toy and video game given to them as children. They pooled allowances together to buy a television for their room, which they shared. The only downfall of Sora finding Kairi was that she could not be shared.

How lucky, some would say, that she had a younger sister. And what a small world after all, some would sing, that she happened to be at the same high school as Roxas. Her name was Namine Gibson, and she still held on to her childhood dream that she was going to be an artist. That was one of multiple explanations to why Roxas loved her.

It was one of several reasons why he was marrying her.

Of course, they were young. Their best friends believed that it was only a matter of time. Acquaintances thought it was too soon. Of course, since Kairi's parents were crazy for Sora, and felt the same about Roxas, then merging the two families together completely seemed like a no-brainer.

The friends that believed in Roxas and Namine's relationship were the three core friends that Roxas had kept since pre-kindergarten. Hayner Marshall, the boy Roxas had dumped sand down his shorts when they were four. Olette Diaz, the girl who colored a pink bunny on Roxas' new white sneakers in the first grade. Lastly, Pence Bogart, the boy who Roxas spent most of this time with in his eighth grade required fitness class.

They were engaged on May twenty-first, right after Namine's last final exam in her sophomore year of college. Roxas surprised her with a night on the town, an expensive dinner, and dessert. A strawberry parfait with a carat on top. Two weeks later they had the date chosen, December nineteenth, because Namine always wanted a winter wedding and none of their friends would still be in classes. The colors would be silver and blue, to match Namine's dress and eyes. The food would be classic beef lasagna or Cornish game hen, and a rigatoni salad for the vegetarians. The church would be Second Presbyterian. Roxas would wear a black bow tie, the groomsmen would wear pastel blue. The bridesmaids would don lovely taffeta periwinkle gowns. Their reception would be held at a ranch owned by Namine's uncle. The plates and glass would be a candlewick pattern. The first song they danced to would be…

" _Breakthru_ by Queen."

Roxas, with a teacup from their local coffee house placed to his lips, glanced over to Namine who was viciously scribbling notes into a soft pink binder she carried with her everywhere. The blonde man placed his cup down on the platter and looked at the words she was writing.

"You want Queen to be the song we dance to first?" he asked for clarification. Namine stopped writing, if only for a second, but didn't look back up at Roxas. Her pen switched hands, and she continued to write with her left hand while digging through her purse for the caterer's business card with her right. It was part of an exercise for her art classes, becoming ambidextrous.

After finding the card she used her free hand to pull long blonde hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, it was the first song that came on the stereo in your car on our first date." Staring pointedly at the wall of the coffee house while his fiancée continued to write furiously, Roxas thanked quietly that she didn't tack on a _Remember?_ at the end of that statement because, honestly, he didn't. He picked his tea up again and downed the rest of it in one gulp.

He stood to grab his coat. It was October and the first chill was starting to form in their small town. Namine looked up at him questioningly. "Hayner's, remember?" Namine looked miffed. Of course, _Hayner_. The boy who wears his heart on his sleeve. He was stealing Roxas away so they could bond over the older student's failed attempt at a relationship that had lasted only three weeks.

She reached into her purse again and pulled out another business card, handing it to Roxas. It was black and shiny, and with white bold print across the top read, **"13 HEARTS: Clubs, Parties, Weddings, Funerals."** Roxas was assuming the last one was a joke. "What's this?"

"13 Hearts is a classic rock cover band," Namine explained. She was making eye contact with Roxas, which meant she was about to say something she did not want ignored. "They play every Saturday night at this bar called The Organization. I've never been, but I figure it might be a nice place to take Hayner for him to get over his last relationship."

Roxas was almost fearing the worst. "And why did you bring this up?"

Namine twirled her pen deftly between her long, thin fingers. She smiled, replying, "I want them to play the reception."

"A cover band? Can't we just hire a DJ that would just play the tracks for us?" Namine's cell phone rang. It was a wedding march tune, meaning that the wedding planner was calling. His fiancée always answered when she called, and wouldn't stop talking for hours. Namine pulled a white cell phone from her purse and answered with a smile.

"Tifa, hi! I was wondering if you had talked with the catering people yet because I was trying to…" Roxas pulled his coat on and started walking towards the door. "And they told me it would cost two extra dollars a plate if they added the pea shoot salads since they're out of season, which is why I wanted to consult with you first because I know some people who don't like salads and my uncle's house only has one restroom so there might be a line of people who need to use the mirror to check that they don't have any hideous green chunks in their teeth. How about-" she held her hand over the receiver and turned to Roxas, who had almost escaped unnoticed "-You're going to that show tonight!" Returning to her phone conversation it was decided that the meal would be cheaper and more people would be happy if the pea shoots were replaced with kale.

Roxas sighed and pocketed the business card, walking outside and feeling the brisk, cold air on his cheeks. It was a nice feeling. He walked down the sidewalk and turned the corner, realizing that his tram had just started moving from its stop. As much as Roxas liked the cold weather, he was in no mood to wait another fifteen minutes at the tram stop. He sprinted towards the moving vehicle, hoping it would notice him.

"Hey!" he shouted to some of the people in the window of the tram. They were ignoring him, great. They were approaching a red light, and Roxas sighed in relief. He ran up to the door and hit it three times, waving to the driver inside.

The door opened with a hiss and Roxas stepped inside, thanking the driver. The first thing he noticed about him was the angry expression on his face, then the fire engine red hair that was tied back loosely behind his head. Roxas had never seen this driver before, but then again he never rode this tram line in the mornings. "Take a picture," the driver said shortly. He shut the door quickly with a loud squeak of the gears as the light turned green again. "And stand behind the yellow line."

 _Rude_. Roxas sighed and stepped over the yellow line separating the driver from the rest of the tram to the middle, taking a pole and holding on. When the tram reached it's third stop, he hopped off quickly in hopes that he would go unnoticed. He reached his hand into his pocket and felt something inside. It was his Tram Commons Go card, a reusable ticket that he paid for every month so he wouldn't have to use change to pay for the ride. Roxas realized he hadn't swiped it, and the driver let him ride for free. The disgruntled redhead was probably too angry to notice, he decided, and figured it was his good fortune for the day.

The blonde walked the rest of the way to Hayner's place. Two blocks away. Before he could knock on the door of his friend's second floor apartment, his name was called behind him. "Roxas?" The blonde turned and there was Hayner with a basket full of rumpled, clean laundry. "Sorry, man, I wasn't expecting you… What's up?"

The shorter man frowned slightly and stood back while Hayner unlocked the door. "We were supposed to meet up today."

"Well, yeah. I knew that. But it's, like, eleven in the morning. Where's Namine?" Hayner would constantly ask where his fiancée was if she wasn't hovering around Roxas with her pink binder. It was a small annoyance to Roxas that his friends thought Namine didn't have a life outside of him.

They stepped inside and Hayner threw the basket on an old chair. Most of the furniture in his apartment was used and looked dirty. The couch, while it was made from leather, had many scratches held together with duct tape. The chair had a mysterious stain on it from purchase in which Hayner couldn't make it go away. The carpet was once white, but now a dull beige. The walls had scratches on it. In all, Roxas felt like he should take a shower after stepping foot in the place.

"She's out and about," he answered lightly, taking a seat on a fabric folding chair in the corner, the cleanest thing he could find. Hayner was used to his, and after coming out from the kitchen with two beers, handed one to Roxas and collapsed on the couch. "So soon?" Roxas asked, twisting off the cap anyway and taking a drink.

"Why the hell not?" Hayner griped, taking the remote off the coffee table, which was actually just an old wooden door he had found, varnished, and placed on cement blocks. "It'll be a head start." Roxas wasn't even old enough to legally drink yet, but that never really stopped him. However he wasn't a fan of drinking in the morning… or anytime before happy hour, really. After a minute of watching Hayner complain about how there was nothing to watch, he placed his bottle on the coffee table.

"Coaster."

"Hayner, do you want to talk about what's really bothering you? I set aside an entire day so we could hang out."

"Sure. As soon as you use a coaster."

Hayner's juvenile behavior was a small price to exterminate the elephant in the room. Roxas removed an empty can of Sprite from the coaster it was hogging a coaster and placed cheap piece of cardboard under his bottle. "Okay, spill. What was her name? Sarah? Susan?"

"Selphie."

"Right. So, what was so special about her?"

Hayner scoffed. "Nothing much, apparently. I take her out to eat four times a week. We saw a movie every weekend. She would spend the night when she didn't have early classes the next morning. And then she tells me that she's in love with her childhood friend from the island and can't stay with me."

Roxas scoffed. "She discovered this after draining your wallet, huh? Two words-"

"Don't say it," Hayner threatened, a look in his eyes easily conveying annoyance and weariness.

The blonde pointed at him with his bottle still in his hand. "I ain't sayin' she's a _gold digga_ , but she ain't messin' with-"

Hayner laughed and smacked the bottle out of Roxas' outstretched hand. It was only half-full when it touched the carpet, so the blonde was able to pick it up before in spilt. Not that anyone would have been able to notice with all of the mystery stains that plagued the filthy brown rug. "It would've been impossible for Selphie to be after me for money." He paused to spread his arms around him to show off his apartment. "I mean, look at this place!"

"Well, you know, some girls like that. Believing in first loves and all… You know, a change of scenery would do you good. Maybe you should move into a different place." He gave the makeshift coffee table a small nudge with his foot. "Maybe get some real furniture…"

"With what money?" At this point Hayner turned the television off and stood, arms outstretched. "This is all I can afford! I can't make life changes just for some girl. I'm only twenty-one, Rox, it doesn't work that way." He took a hefty gulp from his bottle and took it with him into the kitchen. Roxas stood and followed.

"It's really not that big of a change. You know, if you worked at extra evening a week and saved up, maybe found a second, easy job that'd let you work on Sundays… It just takes some planning. Maybe you'll find a nice girl and settle down."

"Settle? I don't want to settle!" Hayner declared, finally finding what he was looking for in the pantry. He pulled out an opened bag of potato chips and started munching. "It may have been easy for you, but it's not that simple. I like my life the way it is! I just wish I could find someone who liked me for me, too…"

Roxas sighed, letting the echoing munches of Hayner's lunch fill the void on his side of the conversation. It wasn't until Roxas realized that his bottle was empty that he started to make strides in speaking again. "Love doesn't exactly work like that," he said softly. "You can't just find someone and hope they'll magically fit into your life without making room for them first."

Hayner didn't reply for a long time. He had stopped eating and was focused on the ground, clearly thinking hard and choosing his next words wisely. He placed his bottle on the counter and cleared his throat. "It's just- you just… You started dating Namine when you were sixteen. The only other relationship you had ever been in was…" he paused and turned his eyes to the ceiling, clearly trying to think, "…never. And that one time when Marla O'Day kissed you on the cheek in the seventh grade doesn't count."

"Look, Namine and I were lucky to find each other, but that doesn't mean that we both-"

"Whatever, dude, I'm not in the mood. You're here to help me through this, remember?" Hayner stated to shut him up. He picked his bottle up again and chugged the rest. "I'm so bored!" he shouted, tossing the bottle in a paper sack he used for recycling. "Want to go out?"

Roxas paused, looking at the clock on the stove. "It's not even noon yet. What would we do?" he asked, tossing his bottle in the bag as well.

"Well, I have some errands I need to run," he sighed, obviously not wanting to go. "Wanna come with? I need to run to the bank and deposit my scholarship checks, go to the hardware store and get a new drill bit, and to the grocery store to stock up for the week."

In all honesty, no, Roxas did not want to go with Hayner on all of his errands. He would have been much more than happy to go back to his apartment and study for a mid term he had coming up. However, empathy for his friend got the best of him, and he shrugged on his jacket as he marched towards the door. The broken-hearted rarely want to run menial errands alone.

Roughly three hours later found Roxas leaning on the shopping cart while Hayner tried to choose between Frosted Cheerios and Frosted Flakes. "They're the same thing," Roxas tried to reason. "It depends on whether you like your breakfast crunchy or flakey." Hayner shot Roxas a quick glare, and turned both boxes to their side to read the nutritional information.

"Hey, Rox, be a peach and get me some paper towels, huh? Cheapest kind they have." Roxas pushed the cart to the side of the isle out of the way. The paper towel isle was quite possibly the most boring isle in a grocery store. There was no joy from it. At least in the food isle you had the prospects of how delicious a meal could be in the future. With paper towels it just seemed like you had to clean up messes.

"SHIT!"

Roxas immediately ducked after hearing a loud clank come from behind him. He felt numerous objects collide with his shoulders and the back of his head and he cried out before falling to the ground.

"Omigawd! Dude, are okay?" the voice sounded panicked. Roxas groaned and looked up. A teenage punk was looking down at him, nibbling on his lip ring nervously. Strands from his stacked mohawk had fallen over his worried blue eyes. "Here, lemme help you up." Roxas took the hand the kid had outstretched and dusted himself off.

"Thanks," he muttered, looking down around his feet at what hit him. It was a stack of diapers.

"I really am sorry about all this," the punk sighed, bending down to pick up the diapers. Roxas followed and helped him. "It's my sister, y'know? She likes this certain brand. And we're kind of on a budget so we have to buy in bulk, but this place always puts the bulk on the higher shelves." He pointed to the highest shelf, an easy four feet out of reach. It did seem odd that the largest, heaviest items were at the top. What if instead of cushiony diapers his head was hit with a crate of bulk soup? Roxas gulped and rubbed the back of his head sorely. "You look familiar."

Roxas turned towards the kid, who had taken to staring him in the eyes. Roxas glanced briefly down at what the boy was wearing. Skinny black and cerulean zebra striped pants, four needless leather belts, and a black oversized long sleeved shirt that shifted too far to the left and had rolled off his shoulder. The poor child looked like he was born in the 80s and then abandoned there. Every time his body shifted it caused the chains on his pants and belts to jingle. Even if they had met in passing, Roxas would never associate with someone like him.

"You're Strife's little brother, aren't you?"

Roxas blinked, and looked at the boy again. "You know Sora?"

"I knew it was you!" he said happily, jumping quickly while clutching a bulk package of diapers closer to his chest. "Roxas Strife, right? Yeah, totally! Sora and I were tight. I mean, we met my junior year when he was just a freshman, but we hung out all the time!"

The shorter blonde didn't believe a word he was saying. If he was a junior when Sora was a freshman, that meant Roxas would have been in the seventh grade. This meant that this 'kid' was at least five years older than him. "Who are you?" he asked. Perhaps a name would help clear things up.

"Oh! Sorry, geez, I'm Demyx. Demyx Skönstedt." Roxas' mind nearly tripped over itself trying to reply his name. He was too busy thinking about it, he had missed Demyx's outstretched hand. The mohawked man withdrew his hand and rubbed it clumsily, taking Roxas' confused look awkwardly. "It's, um… Swedish…" He scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. Roxas tried to remember back when he was in the seventh grade if he ever remembered Sora talking about a _'Demyx Skönstedt'_. Unfortunately, no memory surfaced, and he found himself launched into tedious smalltalk.

"So… ah, you're Bastion High alum, huh?" Roxas asked, although extremely doubtful that this kid actually finished high school. He glanced over Demyx's shoulder hoping to catch sight of Hayner passing by.

Demyx nodded, moving to hold the diapers in a bear-hug style. Roxas had heard him say they were for his sister. He wondered briefly if their family was into inbreeding. "Yeah, graduated okay. My GPA wasn't too hot but I got nearly perfects of the SAT so all~l of these colleges kept sending me scholarships and stuff!" he chuckled. "But, yeah, I ended up going to this university on Destiny Islands because I got a free ride there and I always wanted to live in the tropics, you know?" The wheels in Roxas' mind were turning again. Sora had applied to the only university on Destiny Islands and was rejected. Just _how_ poor was this punk's GPA and how good was his SAT score that he got a full scholarship? "And, yeah, graduated from there and bought an apartment hoping to stay awhile, but it turned out my big sis got knocked up and had a kid so I just moved back a couple of months ago." Demyx blushed and covered his mouth. "I am so sorry! Here I am going on and you probably have somewhere to be."

Roxas shook his head, but somewhat relieved that the punk was ending the conversation. Demyx turned around and shoved the huge package of diapers under his shopping cart, which was filled mostly baby formulas and a few soft pastel-colored toys, along with a set of stainless steel kitchen knives and a ten-pack of cigarette lighters. Roxas feared for the baby that a punk like Demyx seemed to be the one responsible for.

"It's no problem," Roxas stated, eyeing the knives warily. "I was just picking up some stuff for a friend." He held up a bulk package of paper towels as proof. Demyx laughed and started pushing his cart the opposite way down the isle.

"It was great running into yah. Be sure to tell Sora I said 'hi!' Believe or not, I still have my old cell number, so tell him to give me a call!" He waved happily, and Roxas returned with a crooked smile and a half-assed nod. As soon as Demyx was safely around the corner, Roxas rushed back to the cereal isle and found Hayner tossing a box of Frosted Flakes into his cart.

"Took you long enough," he stated, looking at the paper towels in Roxas' hands. "What the hell, dude. I only need, like four. Not thirty-six."

"I've seen your kitchen," Roxas rebuked. "You need as much help as you can get." He shoved the paper towels in the space under the cart.

"Okay, whatever." Hayner read off his shopping list. "Alright, next is orange juice and frozen foods." As they walked to the back of the grocery store, Roxas kept glancing over his shoulder hoping he wouldn't run into that skuzzy punk again. He heard Hayner mutter something in the back of his mind and jumped when his head hit a produce weight. Hayner grabbed the holding bin so it wouldn't smack Roxas' head again. "Oi! I said ' _Watch out!'_ What's with you?"

In the corner of his eye, Roxas swore he saw a hint of blue and black zebra stripes and the sounds of that weird boy laughing at him. "Does the name Demyx… uh… Demyx Skoonst- Skunste- Sk-"

Hayner held up his hand to stop Roxas from tripping over his own words. "I'm sure there's only one person named Demyx in the world. What about him?"

"You know him?"

Hayner cocked his head to the side and scrunched his nose. "Eh, not really. My big brother was friends with his sister and Demyx would come over sometimes and smoke weed with them. But he's, like, hundreds of miles away on some island right now…"

Roxas shook his head. "Nah, I just ran into him. He moved back to the Hollows a few months ago because his sister had a _kid_."

Hayner shrugged. "Oh, that's nice."

"No, it's not. It must be some bastard child or else he wouldn't have had to come all the way back home just to take care of it!"

The older student sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. He and his sister have always been close. I mean, if you guys never met how'd you know who he was to begin with? He's been on the islands for five years. _I_ wouldn't even know what he looked like."

"Apparently he was real chummy with Sora. They were 'tight,'" Roxas said with a sneer. "I never heard of him. I'd remember a name like that…"

"So what's the big deal? Sora had a school friend. I'm sure it happens to the best of us."

"No. Not my Sora. Did you… with that _outfit_ ! Did you _see_ him?"

" _Jesus_ , Roxas, _chill_." Hayner looked briefly around him to prove a point. "No, I obviously haven't seen. Stop being such a dick. I liked Demyx." He tossed four boxes of frozen dinners into his cart. Roxas chose tastefully not to comment. He didn't trust Demyx, and he hoped that Hayner would soon understand why.

Two hours later found the boys back at Hayner's house, groceries unpacked and in their proper order. It was getting near six o'clock. The television was only so amusing, and ads for pizza and burger joints were popping up like rabbits.

"Damn, I'm hungry… Wanna go somewhere?"

The shorter blonde tried to ignore the fact that he had just purchased over seventy dollars worth of groceries. Roxas was starving since he hadn't eaten all day, save for his coffee and half-eaten biscotti he left with Namine. "Should we get the festivities started, then?" He patted his jean pockets looking for his keys. Unsuccessful, he reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper instead.

"What's that?" Hayner asked, noticing Roxas' puckered lips in frustration.

Roxas sighed. "It's a card for some band Namine wants to play the reception. She said that they play at some club called Organization or something."

"Wow, seriously? That's a pretty underground club. I wouldn't know how to get in even if I wanted to."

For a brief moment their eyes met, and they both could tell that the same thought was racing through their minds. A challenge… awesome. "Wanna give it a shot?"

 

* * *

 

 

There was a long line outside the building for The Organization. Roxas noticed while walking swiftly to the front that most of them were only children. They all wore hoodies with stripes, keeping the hoods on over their heads and obscuring their faces. Even though Roxas couldn't see their eyes, he felt like they were watching him like a hawk.

"I think this isn't such a good idea. Maybe Namine got the wrong place." Roxas mumbled to Hayner, wanting to back out and head back towards his car. It wasn't too late for them to eat at a nice Chili's, far away from the manic-depressive hoard glaring daggers at them.

Hayner shivered, regretting wearing only shorts and his favorite pullover in the fall weather. Roxas was better set for wear, still wearing the same brown business slacks and long sleeve button up from when he was eating brunch with Namine, but in their current company he felt out of place.

"Chillax. I think this is right." Reaching the start of the line, Hayner found a bouncer and greeted him with a smile. The man was a gruff, muscular man with fine lines tracing around his face. His hair was short and spiked, topped with green sunglasses. He bit on the butt of a simmering cigarette, showing off his razor sharp threatening teeth. Hayner didn't appear half as threatened as Roxas did, and said smoothly, "Good evening. I was wondering if you could help us. Who's playing tonight?"

The bouncer raised a brow and frowned. Roxas could hear some of the kids behind him snicker. "Are you serious? If yeh jackoffs have t'ask, then yer in bad company."

Hayner cocked a brow. "Woah-ho, no need for the language. We've got a minor present." Now Roxas heard the kids behind growl. Hayner and Roxas had different ways of dealing with anxiety. While Roxas tended to draw himself in like a tortoise, Hayner got cockier.

One of the hoodies spoke up. "Hey, shut up, asshole! Get back in line."

Hayner rolled his eyes and smirked, making eye contact with the small girl who was standing in the front of the line. A large boy standing next to her spoke those big words, but Hayner had a feeling he was speaking on behalf of his leader, the girl. "Relax, cutie, I was talking about him." The taller blonde stuck a thumb out at Roxas, earning a smirk from the girl and the posse behind her.

"Funny," she stated, peering at Hayner with one eye, the other hidden behind platinum blonde bangs. Her glare was focused on the bouncer. "Cid."

The man turned to her and glowered. Roxas watched the electricity exchange between the two. The older man sneered and bit out, " _What?_ "

The white haired girl only had to give a very venomous look to Cid, the bouncer, and the older gent grunted and scratched the back of his head. "Yeh two lucked out. Do yeh have any idea how _sold out_ this show is?"

"13 Hearts?" Roxas took a chance to step in, hoping that they were at the right place. Or if fortune truly smiled upon them, then maybe they were at the wrong place and they could just go home and forget this ever happened.

Cid turned his attention to Roxas for the first time. "So yah _do_ know who's playing tonight? Why ask in the first place, yah idiot?"

"Well… We were just checking," Roxas said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the card Namine had given him. "My fiancé wanted me to check them out for-"

"Oh! Why didn't you show me this earlier?" he asked, his gruff and gravely voice becoming noticeably softer. "Go on in. Axe would wanna talk to yeh before the show…" He stepped aside and pushed open the black door covered in old, wasted gig posters. "IDs, please."

Hayner reached for his wallet and pulled out his ID. He was always given grief since he had just turned twenty-one and every bouncer suspected the card was a fraud. The bouncer eventually accepted it and placed a small, inky stamp on his wrist. Before Hayner stepped through the door he turned to the white haired girl and winked and Roxas had to pretend very, _very_ hard that his friend was not just flirting with a sixteen-year-old.

Roxas stepped up and showed his card only to be met with more grief. "Yah still twenty?" The stout blonde wanted nothing more than to _not_ talk to this man. However, Hayner had already abandoned him for the bar inside.

"So?"

Cid the bouncer rolled his eyes and shoved the card back at Roxas taking a giant sharpie out of his back pocket. "Sorry, I just thought yeh said something earlier 'bout having a fiancée. Stupid."

Roxas wasn't sure whether the 'Stupid' was directed towards himself for being engaged, or to Cid for possibly misunderstanding, but the attitude the bouncer was exuded left no room for personal self-doubt. "I am engaged." Roxas held up his hand to call attention to a promise ring he kept on his left ring finger that would be replaced with the wedding band during the ceremony. Namine wore a matching set.

Laughing incredulously, Cid uncapped his marker and wrote a bit, fat 'X' on Roxas' hand. "Lemme see the other one." Roxas wasn't fond of having two ink splotches on the back of his hands. As soon as Cid was finished, he put his ID back in his wallet. "Listen, kid, pace yeh'self, right? Yeh don't wanna get caught in some web before yah ready."

And at this point Roxas could not _believe_ a bouncer at a kid's club was giving marital advice. He chose to ignore him and storm on through. The inside was smaller than he thought it would be. The stage was located on a corner against a foggy windowed wall. Everything inside the building, save for the crumbling hardwood floors, was painted black, with the only source of light coming from the stage lights and the bar. The bar was located in the back next to a set of double-doors with a neon 'Smoke Outside Only' sign.

He spotted Hayner sitting at the bar and walked over, taking a seat next to him. "The bouncer said we had to find someone and talk to them before the show…" Roxas mumbled. Hayner, apparently, wasn't listening and was giving his full attention to shot glass of _something_ placed in front of him. The club was relatively empty compared the crowd waiting outside. Most people chatted against the walls, and there was a group of scene kids drinking water further down the row. Roxas took this moment to grab the attention of the bartender who was idly standing by cleaning a glass.

"Want some water, kid?" he asked, a smirk on his face. Roxas glared and reached into his pocket to pull out the card Namine gave him. Before bringing his hands back up to the counter he pulled the sleeves of his coat down to try and cover the X's.

"Ah, no," Roxas spat. "I need to talk to whoever's in charge for this band. We want to hire them."

The bartender pointed to the group of scene kids standing near them. "Well, that's who you wanna talk to right there. The redhead."

Roxas turned and easily picked him out. The boy who was standing closest to him with his back turned had a mane of bright, fire engine red hair that was tamed into a ponytail. Roxas tapped his shoulder and was met with broken green eyes. The redhead looked down at him and frowned. "What do you want?"

The blonde noticed he had a labret piercing just like Demyx, only his was a vicious silver spike jutting straight through the middle of his lower lip. There were small tattoos under his eyes that made him look like a clown with all the eye makeup he was wearing, albeit a very sad, creepy clown.

Roxas tried for form a sentence, but found himself unable to look up the right words. The piercing green eyes seemed to be scrutinizing everything about him. More so than any moment achieved so far that evening, Roxas felt so completely out of place that he wanted to sprint back to his car, no looking back. The fear rising up his chest was terrifying and he was at the point that he would leave Hayner behind just to get away from this man. "Look, kid, I-uh don't do autographs unless you catch me after a show," the man sighed, turning back to his group. Not a word was spoken, but they all laughed.

"That's," Roxas started, this time nervously tapping the redhead's shoulder and turning his attention to face him again, "not what I wanted." Still holding their business card in his hand, Roxas decided to flash it one more time. The small piece of paper seemed to work wonders before with the bouncer and bartender. The redhead snatched the paper from him and flipped it around, looking at it as if he had never even laid eyes on it before.

"You know Tifa?" he asked, tilting his eyes up to get a better look at Roxas. The blonde saw as the bright green eyes look down to the large X's on his hands. The redhead didn't miss the ring on Roxas' finger either. "Aren't you a little young to be getting hitched?"

Roxas glared. "Aren't you a little bold to be talking down to your future employer?" he quipped. The redhead smiled nervously and handed the card back.

"Right, right. Sorry," he said lightly, patting him on the back. "I think I remember Tifa talking about you. You're the really young couple getting married this December?" Whatever happened to client confidentiality? Roxas really didn't want the punk to know everything about his personal calendar.

"Who is Tifa to you?"

"My cousin. She's constantly trying to get us to play Master of Ceremonies and stuff. It's really not our scene," he shrugged, gesturing to the club around him. _Obviously_ , Roxas thought. "We do play some awesome covers, though. If that's what you're interested in. It's just we won't play them tonight. We're trying to sell our new CD tonight, you see, and most of the kids here probably wouldn't know Fleetwood Mac from Freddie Mercury."

Roxas blinked. He _loved_ Freddie Mercury. And luckily he had enough mental restraint to not shout it out loud as soon as the redhead dropped his name. "Can we go somewhere else to talk?" he asked.

Green eyes blinked and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Sure." He turned to his posse and told them he would be back. "We're done with mic check so it'll be a little bit before doors open. Over here." He walked past Roxas to a door on the opposite side of the floor. There was a large sign that read 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' in threatening red ink. Inside the room was trashed. It smelled of urine and there was nowhere to sit. It was just larger than a public bathroom, and the band's equipment took up over half the space.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

"Oh, sorry, I'm kind of used to people knowing who I am around here," he stated. At least he wasn't modest. "Axel Rose." He held out his hand, which Roxas pointedly did not choose to shake.

"Seriously?" Roxas asked. "Seriously. Like… Axl Rose?"

"Yeah." Their eyes met in a struggle, and Axel lowered his hand when it became apparent he wasn't going to win.

"Ugh, you aren't going to sing 'Welcome to the Jungle' or anything tonight, are you?"

He laughed. "No. That song's only good if there's a bunch of hammered people around." Well, at least he wasn't deceitful. Axel seemed to be miles away in a daze about the idea of drunken women and Guns 'n Roses.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest for a moment," Roxas sighed, cutting off whatever daydream Axel was focused on. "You really aren't the type I want playing my wedding."

Axel bent down to a duffle bag and unzipped it, pulling out a beat up carton of cigarettes. "Really? And what is your type, small-fry?"

The hair on Roxas' back was on end. "Do you really think I need to explain? Look at you! Your hair is dyed, you wear all black, your face is holed up, you have tattoos on your cheeks…" Roxas left the ending open to signify he could continue. Axel was wearing a slim fit long sleeved black button up shirt, and Roxas was almost positive he had more tattoos infecting his skin underneath it.

Axel took a zippo lighter out of his back pocket and sparked his cigarette. "Honestly? You're obviously not the type I would want to play for. I know a lot of business types that are really cool people to hang out with but you just seem like complete and total prick." Taking a deep drag that seemed to vaporize half the stick, Axel released the smoke, making sure it was towards the rusty vent at the top of the room. "But Tifa vouches for you. So I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Our rates are three hundred for the night, food, tickets for the bar, and I want to be able to sell our CD at the ceremony."

"Rest assured we don't associate with the types interested in your music," Roxas bit out. "And don't go naming prices until we've heard you play."

"You came on a piss-poor night if you wanted to hear us. Your ears will be bleeding before the first song's over." He took another substantial drag before snubbing the cigarette on the floor. "We aren't playing any 60's Dylan hippie shit tonight. You're going to get killed." As he said this smoke crept out from his mouth and rose slowly around his face. Roxas thought the image was nothing short of terrifying, but he kept it to himself. Once again, he found himself faced with a challenge. Axel didn't want him to stay, well tough.

"I'm going to watch the show," Roxas declared. The muffled sounds and chatter from outside was starting to grow, and Axel gave his crushed cigarette a final smear into the concrete floor before sighing.

"Do whatever you want, kid. I can't tell you to leave."

There was a knock on the door, and before anyone had a chance to answer it three other men piled into the small room.

"This fucking sucks! I hate playing here. Their green room is a bathroom," a man with an eye patch said, glowering into the mirror.

"Stop before you break it." A man with long, glitter-rock pink hair shoved the gruff man away and used the mirror to apply goopy black makeup around his eyes. The man with the eye patch focused his single creepy tanned eye at Roxas.

"Dude, who's the kid?"

Roxas didn't get a chance to say anything before Axel answered him. "He's nobody." The angered redhead opened the door and shoved Roxas out. "Sorry, buddy, but we got a show to prepare for." Roxas felt the door slam on his back, and it took every fiber of his trachea not to scream like a little kid.

Since being led inside the green room by Axel, the club had filled up with all the punks that were waiting in the long line outside. Most of them were too young to drink, and he could easily spot Hayner at the bar. His face paled when he realized he was chatting up the white haired girl they had seen earlier.

 _Idiot_! Roxas panicked and shuffled over to the older blonde, sitting with three shot glasses lip-down next to him.

"All I'm saying is that they've _changed_ since the first album. It could seriously be DIY but, and listen to me, okay? But as soon as they got a deal with the big label the fuckin' sold out."

The rolled her eyes and flipped him off. "Deal," she spat.

"No! No, listen to me, alright? There is nothing punk about big band music mixing with guitars-"

"Hayner, can I talk with you for a moment?" Roxas bit out, grabbing his friend's shoulder and pulling him away. He dragged him out to the smoking area, which looked like a small park and was a breath of fresh air compared to the growing body heat from inside the club. " _What_ the fuck do you think you're doing talking to her?"

"Nothing," Hayner slurred, his breath wreaking. "She brought up punk music and the Sex Pistols and I told her it was stereotypical and she started talking about-"

Roxas held up his hand, stopping him. "She's still in _high_ _school_ , Hayner. And you're on the rebound. It could be a felony if you're caught talking to her."

"Ugh, seriously, I was just talking to her. Don't take everything so seriously." He brushed Roxas off and went back inside. Roxas wanted to bang his head against a wall. Why was everyone _so_ against him today?

"Mic check! One- Two! Syphilis, syphilis!" echoed from inside the club. The kids around him simultaneously dropped the cigarettes and marched back in. Roxas sighed and stood in the back where all the parents watched on. The green room door opened and Axel, followed by the other guys that had came in while Roxas was there, ducked out and sprinted through the crowd to get to the stage on the opposite side of the floor.

The club was in an uproar. Roxas had never seen anything like it. The only thing close to a concert he had ever been to was a battle of the bands Hayner had participated in briefly in high school.

When Axel hit the stage the lights reflected off his bright red hair that made him stand out from the other players. The man with the eye patch had strapped on a yellow six string and a blond man with multiple piercings on his ears slowly strapped on a black bass and started popping his knuckles. The pink haired man with copious amounts of mascara and glitter stood behind the drums and screamed. The punks in the audience screamed back.

"What the fuck is up, Bastion?" Axel screamed. The eye patch man plugged in and let rip a searing riff had the kids wailing back and storming closer to the stage. Axel plugged in and plucked a few melodic notes on his guitar, glancing to the bassist and drummer and nodding before jumping high and screaming. " _Are you ready?_ "

Roxas' ears were assaulted with shouts and roars and animalistic purrs. The guitar was scratchy and experimental, but it managed to carry and beat and melody that was nothing like Guns 'n Roses. Axel was shouting about hearts, blood, and pretty boys and girls that were plagued by unrequited love. Roxas found the back of the club to be the safest place, because in front of the stage fights started breaking out and some of the punks were literally punching each other, although Axel and the band seemed to be _encouraging_ this behavior.

He could hear Hayner and the white haired girl talking back and forth, having to shout over Axel. "Why aren't you up there with the other girls?" Hayner asked, gesturing to the troupe of girls with big hair at the very front of the stage, standing between the mosh pit, reaching out and touching Axel's legs and arms when he was close enough. The girl scrunched her nose and shook her head.

"Dangerous," she stated evenly. Axel leaned his body into the audience and was grabbed and touched and groped by all the punks until they pushed him back onstage when it was time for the next chorus.

" _You don't want to care AT ALL_!" Axel shouted, and the punks pumped their firsts in the air and chanted along with him. "Alright!" Axel said in a congratulatory way. "That was sweet, Bastion. Tasty. But now it's time for a different song. I think you guys know what it is." The crowd hushed in silent anticipation. "I want everyone to clear the floor!" Axel barked. "NOW!" Slowly, the punks started skimming to the edges, leaving an empty place in front of the stage. "FASTER!" the frontman roared. "BIGGER!" The hole left in the audience was getting so large that it was opening up to the bar in the back of the room. Axel unstrapped his guitar and jumped off the stage, starting to forcefully shove some of the kids out of the way so the gap would be made larger.

Axel continued until he was near the back of the space, and he looked up and caught Roxas' eyes like a magnet. The redhead sneered at him and turned back around. "Good! Good!" he told the kids. All the while the man with the eye patch was strumming an ominous, high-pitched rhythm with his guitar. Axel slipping his guitar back on and joined the other man, the rhythm slowly growing slower, and slower… and softer…

"DEADLY NIGHT SHADE!" Axel screamed, and the guitars instantly sped up and the drums kicked in and all three of the guitarists started thrashing as Axel screaming about killing friends and family. The gap that the frontman worked so hard to create was filled in an instead into the largest mosh pit yet. Kids were getting elbowed, punched, kicked, and slashed. No more than five feet away from Roxas he saw a boy get punched in the nose and blood was splattered over the filthy hardwood floor.

Nervously, he glanced back to the bartender who had helped him earlier, and the man was just standing and cleaning a glass as if this were an everyday thing.

"C'mon!" the girl standing next to Hayner shouted, despite her word of warning earlier, pulling on the older blonde's arm. "Fun!" His friend laughed and followed the girl into the pit. Roxas freaked and grabbed Hayner's arm.

" _Woah_ kay. Listen, I know you like her and everything but as your friend I cannot let you go in there. You _will_ die!" Roxas wasn't sure if his shouting was reaching Hayner's ears over the sound of the speakers. The older boy smiled, winked, and disappeared with his little angel of death into the ruckus. Roxas grumbled in defeat. He couldn't just leave without Hayner; Roxas was his ride. Although he was sure the girl's mother would give him a ride back to his apartment, if it were necessary. He laughed at the thought.

For a brief moment, Hayner's head popped up above the crowd. He had apparently made his way past the mosh pit and was jumping in a throng of high school kids right in front of the band. He had to admit, even though it appeared like his lungs would collapse under the pressure, it looked like Hayner was having the time of his life.

Axel took the microphone and cupped it into his hand, whispering into it and wearing a face like a kicked puppy. " _Did they even notice you? Crying about your wrist's tattoo. There's nothing you can do about it now, boy_ ." His voice started to rise, the beat quickened, Roxas felt his pulse accelerate. " _Stop pretending to be coy! You were just a toy! All you did was annoy! DEPLOY! DESTROY!_ " Axel was only trying to scream at this point. Nothing came out, and his throat was tarnished. That didn't stop the audience from continuing to beat each other up in the pit. The punks near the front of the stage were singing the rest of the song in Axel's place. The guitarists stopped, fingers bleeding and sweat pouring, and let the sound of the kid's voices rise above all else. There was magic in the club that night. Axel stood on stage and absorbed the attention with a grin, urging everyone to continue.

"Thank you!" he croaked into the mic. He took a moment to point to a table set up in the vacant corner of the club. "We have CDs and a shirt and crap in the back, if you're interested."

Roxas noticed some of the kids mulling their way towards the booth. Roxas bit his lip, and finally decided that Namine would probably want to listen to the music first, before making a decision. At least, that what he told himself before walking to the booth before the other punks had a chance form a line and shelling out ten bucks for their album.

"Oh… OHH… What do we have here?" Axel laughed, still talking into the mic. Roxas was handed his CD with a nod of thanks for the person handling the cash box. The blonde sighed and turned to find Hayner when he realized that the red headed frontman was staring right at him. He had seen him purchase the CD. "We have one last song to sing before we crash for the night. It's a cover."

His last words dripped like acid, his glare boring holes into Roxas before he turned and shouted something at the bassist and guitarist. He made a hand gesture towards the drummer who nodded, tapping the sticks together four times before all the instruments kicked in at once, Axel bursting out singing in a very different way than he had been before.

" _I've got something to say_ !" there was a brief pause, and Roxas heard some of the punks laughing. His voice was deeper, stronger, and it didn't appear that he was going to start screaming. Roxas gave him the benefit of the doubt. " _I killed a baby today! And it doesn't matter much to me, as long as it's dead_!"

And Roxas immediately regretted his decision. Axel, damn him, laughed at the blonde as he frowned, walking away to the door. "Well!" Axel giggled, back to his normal, high pitched tone. He couldn't sing anymore, whether it was because it was the end of the set and his voice was tired or because he was too busy laughing. The punks in the audience picked up on the song quickly, though. Roxas had never heard of it, and he hoped he never did again.

" _I've got something to say!_ " the kids chanted. _"I raped your mother today! And it doesn't matter much to me, as long as she spread!_ "

The audience had stopped moshing and wrapped their arms around each other in a sense of camaraderie. It was shocking that the kids were acting so friendly over a disgusting, distasteful song. Roxas decided to screw Hayner. He could stay and listen to this terrible song with a little girl if he wanted to, but the blond had enough. Stuffing the CD that he now regretting purchasing in his pocket, Roxas walked back to his car and left as quickly as possible. He couldn't hear properly until the next morning.

**xxx**


	2. White Wedding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, driving to work with my music on shuffle: Ah, _Breakthru_! It's been such a long time since I've listened to this.  
>  Me:  
> Me:  
> Me: _MY FANFIC_
> 
> Now I know how Griffin McElroy felt when he forgot about his boy. I'm so sorry y'all. I'll try and be better about updating chapters more regularly. Like I've mentioned before, the entire thing's on ffdotnet if you want to reread all of it without the wait T__T;;

**xxxxx**

**Ballad  
** **Chapter Two**

**"White Wedding"**

**xxxxx**

Roxas announced he was home by slamming the door shut and tearing off his coat. In all normal circumstances, he would have thrown his jacket on the floor and kicked it, but Namine was there standing in the doorway from the kitchen to the living room with a tray of tea.

"Um… hi," he muttered awkwardly. Namine smiled and walked into the den with the platter.

"Hello. We have company." Roxas grunted and hung his coat in the closet like a civilized person. He could hear laughter, Sora and Kairi's, coming from the other room.

Before he entered the rest of the apartment, Sora walked into the entrance hall with a wide grin. "Hey, Rox!" Sora hugged him briefly, he was always good for a bear hug, and then walked back towards the kitchen. "You're home earlier than I thought." Seeing his brother's smiling face reminded him immediately of Demyx Skönstedt at the supermarket earlier. The blonde was so exhausted he didn't even want to touch that topic with a long pole that night.

"It's been a long day."

Sora was wearing a pastel blue polo shirt with a sweater over his shoulder. His khaki pants had a small tea stain on his thigh. He knew his way around Roxas' kitchen better than he did, and Namine asked him to get crackers from the pantry.

"So, how was the show?" Namine called from the other room. The blonde boy sighed and walked into the living room, followed closely by Sora and the crackers.

"I don't think you'd want them playing the reception." Namine looked crestfallen, glancing down into her teacup.

"Oh… Any particular reason why?"

Roxas scratched the back of his head and tried to come up with the right words. He sat down on the comfy chair across the coffee table from Namine. "They're… loud. They're obnoxious. They're not the kind of people we'd want, you know?"

For the first time in a very long while, Namine frowned, and it killed Roxas. Her upper lip trembled slightly and hung out over bottom lip, whimpering slightly. "…But I really wanted a cover band."

Roxas glanced to Kairi and Sora sitting on the love seat between them. Both of their big, beady eyes were looking back at him questioningly. "But… baby, they're rude boys."

"I'm sure if we pay them enough they'll behave. How much did they offer to play for?"

"Uh…"

"You _did_ talk to them, right? At least?"

"Uh, yeah, well… Three hundred, was what the singer said," Roxas mumbled. Namine snapped.

"That's it? We had a budget of five hundred set for live music! Roxas, if that's what they're willing to pay for offer them three-fifty and we can use the money we saved with them to pay for the food!"

And of course, when you really got down to it, the matter would always be about the money. Kairi had decided to stay silent and not make eye contact with Roxas or her sister, but the look in her eyes told that she obviously sided with Namine. Sora looked at his brother and gave him a playful wink, foretelling him to look forward to losing many more battles in the future.

"Tifa told me they play at this after-office hours club called Traverse. Maybe you could check it out later this week?" Roxas didn't have any other choice other than to agree mindlessly.

"Yeah, okay."

**000ooo000ooo000**

So Roxas found himself sitting at classy oak bar of yet another fine establishment. Thankfully this place was at least clean… And had working light fixtures… and a not-sticky bathroom. He sighed and rested his elbows on the bar behind him. His always faithful copilot, Hayner, sat facing the bar and ordered his second drink of the night.

"Slow down, please," Roxas said, trying not to beg. "I don't want another repeat of Saturday…"

Hayner rolled his eyes and another bottle was placed in front of him. He turned back around and faced the rest of the club with Roxas. "Relax. It's cheap beer."

The club had a rustic, warm feeling to it. The floor was polished hardwood and there were actual tables and booths for people to sit at. The barstools were padded and weren't chained to the bar like at The Organization. Near the back of the club was a small stage set up with the drums and guitars already in place. This meant that Axel and his band were already here.

"So we're going to hear some good ol' American rock tonight is the rumor, yeah?" Hayner asked, taking a good long sip.

"Yeah. That's the rumor," Roxas confirmed. At the moment he sorely wished he was twenty-one because the only way he could enjoy another one of Axel's performances would be if he were drunk off his ass.

The club was reasonably filled for a Thursday night. Most of the patrons this time were older, the youngest couples looking to be in their late twenties, and promised no rough housing or moshing of any sort. That didn't stop Roxas' heart from preparing for another evening of obscene terror when the house lights dimmed.

The set lights illuminated the stage in a pink and blue haze. Without announcement, and without a crowd of screaming fans, Axel walked onstage. He looked tired, haggard, and a completely different creature than what Roxas had seen Saturday night.

His thick, red eyeliner was gone and replaced with eyeliner that was thin and black, it was only stage makeup and nothing else. The tattoos under his eyes were covered with thick layers of concealer, and you could almost make out the faintest outline of the little diamonds if you knew where to look. His lip ring was replaced with a flesh colored knob. If it weren't for the flamboyant red hair, Roxas would have to agree the front man looked almost… normal.

The pink haired drummer was still dressed like an eighties glitter rock super star, the blonde bassist still dressed in black, and the lead guitarist was still in an eye patch, which Roxas considered wasn't just for show anymore. Axel had donned the tightest gray shirt he had ever seen, along with skinny leather pants that hid nothing. Roxas tried his damndest to keep his eyes on something other than the front man. He turned to Hayner.

"What do you think? You'd almost think the band was professional," Roxas laughed.

Hayner took a sip from his bottle again and smirked. "Dude, check out that chick on the floor," he said, nodding towards the small group of people that were starting to form on the wooden dance floor. She was smiling and giggling and sipping constantly from the straw of her drink. "She's freaking hot. I'm gonna ask her to dance."

She was talking to a well built, stoic brunet man standing behind a sound station at the back of the floor. Were they together or simply flirting? Roxas didn't really want Hayner to find out the hard way. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Axel's voice.

"Mic check. One, two. Can you hear me? Leonhart?" The brunet man standing behind the sound booth nodded, turning knobs and adjusting levels. "It's good? Alright! Let's get started!" Axel shouted. The guitarist started with a guitar riff that everyone in the room knew. In that instant, everyone turned to the stage and cheered. " _Yeahyeahyeeeah_!"

The bar was starting to get busier with more patrons throwing money down for more shots and drinks. " _She was a fast machine! She kept her motor clean!_ " By this point the audience was singing along with him, and everyone at the bar was so loud Roxas could barely hear Axel's voice, but he was shocked at how much he sounded like Brian Johnson. It was nothing like his voice from Saturday. " _She was the best damn woman that I had ever seen!_ "

"Oh my GOD. They're amazing!" Hayner shouted over the noise. The bar was starting to get too crowded for comfort. They left their seats to get closer and to try finding a table.

" _She told me to come, but I was already there!_ "

Roxas looked up at that moment to see Axel do a suggestive thrusting movement to his microphone stand. It got the women's attention and all the ladies in the bar whooped and hollered.

"' _Cause the walls start shaking! The earth was quaking! My mind was aching~ And we were makin' it and you—_ "

At this point Axel snapped the microphone off its stand and pointed it towards the audience. The response was huge as everyone shouted back, " _Shook me ALL NIGHT LONG!_ "

Axel smiled and brought his mic back to his lips and continued singing. Roxas couldn't help but smile. He loved this kind of music and the company he was in seemed to have the same kind of appreciation. Hayner nudged him in the shoulder and brought his attention back into the real world.

"Hey, man, there aren't any free tables." Roxas looked around them, and the entire sitting area was completely packed. There wasn't even a free chair to steal. Looking back to the bar, their seats they had claimed previously were gone. Roxas cursed softly under his breath, but Hayner just clapped him on the back. "Who cares about sitting, though!" he said happily. "The fun part is always on the dance floor!"

Like a black hole, Hayner was sucked into the floor and towards the pretty woman he had seen earlier. She was still talking to the man behind the sound booth, even though he was ignoring her and had headphones on. Roxas figured she probably had one Long Island iced tea too many.

_White Wedding_ was played, this time the singer was the bassist and Axel was playing a keyboard hidden in the shadows. Roxas tried to tilt his head to get a better look at him from around a pillar near the bar. Although the audience had been warm and happy during the first song, none of them were dancing. There were a few couples that were nodding their heads and moving their bodies to the beat, but it wasn't dancing.

After the song was finished the audience applauded and Axel stood back in the front. Roxas noted that he wasn't playing guitar tonight. "Okay, everyone." He eyed everybody in the audience and a smirked. "You're being too still. Don't you realize you're in the greatest city in the state?" The audience cheered and shouted. "The country?" The noise got louder, and it sounded more like cheering at a football game than at a show. "Alright, well show it to me, Bastionites! Lemme see you!"

The people started filling in the gap between the stage and the audience left on the dance floor. Axel laughed and started singing. " _It's early morning, the sun comes out. Last night was shaking, and pretty loud~_ "

The girls that had come out to the club in packs started turning to each other and dancing. Roxas saw a man ask one of them to dance with him and she immediately latched onto him. He laughed at his fluke. Scanning the floor again, he tried to find Hayner to see if he was getting the same luck.

By chance, their eyes met and Hayner called him over with a large grin.

"Roxas, this is Rinoa. Rinoa, Roxas Strife," he introduced. Taking a closer look, she was a very gorgeous woman. Her almond eyes squinted as she smiled at him and she tucked her raven bangs behind her ear before holding out her hand. Roxas took it softly and shook it. "Rinoa here sometimes sings for the band."

"Just some Heart or Joan Jett and stuff, whenever they need me," she smiled. Holding up her drink, she added, "But I'm not working tonight."

Hayner gestured to the man behind the sound booth. "And this is Squall. He's working right now, though, so don't bug him." Roxas got a closer look at the man, and he was rather handsome. However, a large scar across his face gave him a ragged appearance and completely split his face. Roxas wondered how a person could come to get a scar that hideous. "He's their sound guy for all their shows."

"I hear you're trying to hire 13 Hearts for your wedding?" Rinoa asked, having to shout over the noise. Roxas nodded in reply. "That's so great! Most couples choose to play songs through an iPod shuffle or hire a string quartet…" she said, turning to the band, "…but this so much more unique, you think?"

" _Here I am! Rock you like a hurricane!_ "

The reaction Axel got from the crowd was huge and Rinoa laughed. "Have you met the band yet?"

"I spoke with Axel a little bit," Roxas stated, shaking his head, "but I haven't met any of the others."

She instantly perked up. "Oh! Well, let me introduce you!" The singer pointed towards the guitarist. "That's Xigbar, the lead guitarist. He's amazing. He can play anything, no matter how fast. He lost his eye when he was twelve when a guitar string snapped and gouged it out." Roxas shuddered. "At least, that's _his_ story. You can't really trust Xigbar, he lies a lot. So does Luxord." She pointed to the older blonde bassist.

"Luxord used to be a black jack dealer in Vegas. He got sick rich because he _never_ lost. One too many patrons of the casino suggested he was cheating, and it was true. He was hiding cards under the table. _But_ what really got him in trouble was getting caught counting cards at a rival casino. He's a genius. He says he bought a bass on a whim with the money he gained, and didn't start learning how to play until after he lost his job."

She turned her focus on the drummer, who was starting to sweat. "And that's Marluxia. He's a sweetheart, really. I know his parents kicked him out of the house as soon as he turned eighteen. He lived with some friends until recently. Other than that I don't really know much about him, but he's always been really nice to me."

"What do you know about Axel?" Roxas asked.

Rinoa laughed and took another sip from her drink. "He's amazing. A free spirit. His aura's purple. What do you expect me to say? Didn't you say you already met him?"

"I _talked_ with him, but I don't really know much about him."

"He's twenty-three. He's got an Associate's in communications. Sometimes performs solo in cafes. His favorite color is red."

"Those are just facts," Roxas stated. "Don't you have anything about his personality? Is he, like… aggressive or anything?"

She shook her head and smiled sweetly with a shrug. "Axel's just your average guy."

The blonde turned his attention back to the front man. They had finished the Scorpions song and moved on to Guns n' Roses.

" _She's got a smile that it seems to me, Reminds me of childhood memories where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky!_ "

There was no way this man led an ordinary life. Roxas had run out of time to ask questions when Hayner placed his hand on her shoulder and asked her to dance. Rinoa nodded, accepting the offer charmingly and handed her drink off to the blonde. The brunet behind the sound booth glared at them as they got lost amongst the other people slow dancing in the crowd.

The drink in Roxas' hand was still relatively full. Not wanting to carry it while Hayner danced with her, and definitely not wanting to let it sit and go to waste or run the risk of getting spiked, he decided to have a little taste. He stuffed his left hand that had the obligatory under-21 X scratched on it in his coat pocket and downed what was left. The alcohol burned his throat and sunk down to the pit of his stomach. He finished with a nasty grimace and wondered _what_ he had just drank. He had Long Islands before, but the content in this one must have been really-

_Whoa_.

-Strong.

"I think it's safe to say that most of you have loosened up," Axel said, giving an affirming nod to the audience. "You guys are really great. The best crowd we've had in a while."

The audience cheered in response. The quickest way to a listener's heart is flattery; it gets you everywhere. Roxas even found himself cheering as well. He laughed and placed the empty glass on a banister and tried to move so he could see Axel's face better.

"We're going to continue our set with one of my personal favorites."

Axel moved to the keyboard again, this time a spotlight was aimed at him and a microphone was set up in front of it. He turned to his band, nodding his head three times before he pressed a chord on the keys, the rest of the band staying quiet. It started out as a solo.

" _Tonight… I'm gonna have myself a real good time…"_

And the only thing going through Roxas' head was _QueenQueenQueenQueenholyshitfuckitsQUEEN_.

There was a smile gracing the redhead's face. He looked like this was the happiest moment in his life. If he were to die, he'd be going to heaven to meet Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and the late great Freddie Mercury. Oh, God, he sounded just like Freddie Mercury. Roxas' eyes widened.

_FreddieFreddieFreddieFreddiefuckingMERCURY_.

"I feel ali~i~i~ive! And the world, it's turning inside out, yeah! I'm floating around in ecstasy…"

The piano stopped. Roxas blinked and made a note of it. The piano wasn't supposed to stop, but the people around him didn't seem to mind. They didn't care at all. Didn't they realize that this wasn't the way the song went?

" _So don't. Stop. Me. Now_."

Axel was still singing by himself, and this was usually the part of the song where the rest of the band would kick in. Although Roxas had his doubts that Luxord, Xigbar, and Marluxia could carry themselves as well as the real Queen actually could.

Axel kept singing, but stopped playing his keyboard. Instantly, Xigbar kicked in with a few chords that weren't in the original song. Axel grabbed the microphone that was next to his keyboard and abandoned his post, taking the center of the stage again. Brian May's solo didn't come until after the second half, but instead Xigbar was playing the piano's chords of his guitar. It was genius and sounded amazing! It was much stronger and heavier than the original version, and it suited a band like 13 Hearts. _Don't Stop Me Now_ was a pub song, and Axel's group was very much a rock club aesthetic. Roxas found himself respecting their decision to change a Queen song.

And he promptly forced himself to give a mental face slap. This song wasn't anything close to the original! It must be the alcohol thinking for him… That had to be the answer.

"Isn't this great?" Hayner shouted over the music. "This is like the best song I ever heard!"

Roxas glared at Hayner. Of course he would agree, Hayner liked anything loud and obnoxious like himself. Roxas reached his hand into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Eyeing the bar, he passed his friend a folded ten-dollar bill.

"Get me a drink, anything," he sighed.

Hayner frowned and glanced around. "Oh… Man, Roxas, you know I would if I could, but this place seems like they'd be a little strict serving to minors. I don't want any flak if someone finds out I was giving it to you…"

"No one has to know. I'll be in the bathroom, just give it to me there."

" _I'm gonna make a super sonic man outta you!_ "

Without another word, Roxas turned on heel and marched to the corridor that led to the bathrooms. The blonde whistled along to the lyrics, still trying to keep his mind focused on _not_ liking this music. This was 13 Hearts he was listening to. The same band that started to sing a song about raping his mother in front of an entire audience of impressionable teenagers.

On this night Roxas encountered something he never thought he'd have to worry about. A line in the men's bathroom. Not really needing to go, and in fact just waiting for Hayner to bring him his drink, he took a seat on a stool next to a mirror and leant his head back on the tile wall.

The crowd was singing along, and before Hayner came back it ended with the music falling out and Axel crooning along until the end. Roxas could almost imagine the greasy redhead taking a bow, and doing so the audience roared. Some of the men waiting in line smiled and nodded in approval, and the blonde swore the man sitting in the stall was applauding as well. The walls of the bathroom sanctuary muffled what Axel was saying after the song. The crowd seemed to react just the same, hooting and hollering as if God had just spoken to them.

The heavy oak door into the bathroom opened and Roxas' knight in shining armor entered holding a glass bottle of dark stout beer. The blonde noticed that the seal was already broken off and lip marks stained the brown glass. He glared at his friend, who just shrugged nervously.

"I didn't want to seem suspicious or nothing, so I just took a small sip. I don't even know if you like this kind." Roxas shrugged and kissed the bottle, knocking his head back and drinking without really tasting. The men around them didn't seem to mind, and it wasn't like Roxas was a teenager. His twenty-first birthday was only a month away. To stay safe, he kept his hand with the 'X' in his pocket at all times.

"The band was pretty hot tonight, don't you think?" Hayner asked, stepping in line to use the urinals. Roxas noted that more people were started to come in. The line was even starting to spread out the door. It was getting ridiculous. The blonde didn't want to talk to his friend through a wall of people, so he stood and walked towards the door.

"Hayner, I'm leavin'," Roxas said, and his friend could hear it in his tone that he was trying really hard not to drawl out his words. He watched nervously from his point in line and nodded.

"Be careful. I'll be done in a minute. A- And don't drink that whole thing!" he shouted as Roxas was kicking back another shot as the door slammed shut.

Roxas stumbled out of the bathroom and back onto the dance floor that was awkwardly vacant. The stage was clear and void of annoying singers and creepy looking musicians. There were some girls sitting on the edge of the stage with their drinks chatting, so Roxas meandered over and took a quiet spot near the edge for himself. Although tipsy he made sure to keep the hallway to the bathroom in view so he could see Hayner when he came out.

Taking one last shot from his bottle before he realized half was already gone, he sat the glass down and rested his hands on the stage behind him. The stage seemed so boring and dull with an act like 13 Hearts onstage. Despite Axel's true colors not matching Roxas' tastes, he would be lying to himself if he didn't think that Axel was quite the leading man.

Shifting his hands into a more comfortable position, Roxas noted his hand touched a piece of paper. He picked it up and looked at it. Typed clearly and in large letters was every song they had played so far for their first act. The second act showed that they would be playing more Crue and Aerosmith, along with some Beastie Boys, which had surprised Roxas. He realized with an amplified drunken look of excitement that he had a setlist in his hands. The world of rock and roll spun around this one sheet of paper, at least for tonight and in this particular establishment. Roxas had always heard rumors of people who liked to steal set lists, but he had never been to a show before where the group would just let it lay sitting on a small stage while they were gone.

Sneakily, Roxas folded the paper quickly and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. A waitress walked past him holding a tray of drinks. She disappeared through a door next to the stage. A few moments later she left with the tray tucked under her arm. She paused for a moment as she was looking at Roxas and frowned.

"Hey, kid, are you okay?" she asked, tilting her hips and she bent down to get a better look at him. Roxas looked up in her eyes and caught her scrutinizing gaze. He knew he wasn't a kid, but she must have seen the giant X on his hand and got suspicious. Roxas didn't see any other people there who were under twenty-one, and he was starting to feel like an outcast.

"I'm fine," he tried to assure her, but the stench on his breath spoke otherwise.

Her frown deepened and she moved the tray in front of her. "Have you been drinking?"

The door next to the stage opened again. Roxas shook his head and smirked lazily. He had a difficult time remaining serious while his head was spinning. He couldn't even sit up straight. "No, I'm just feeling a little sick. I promise, I haven't been-"

" _There_ you are!" A person stepped between Roxas and the waitress and hoisted Roxas up by his arm. "We were waiting for you in the back! You should've asked for us!" The blonde looked up and saw a smear of red with a splash of green swimming in blackness. It was Axel. He turned to the waitress and grinned handsomely. "Thank you very much for finding my friend. He gets disoriented so easily. Would you mind sending some water back here when you get a chance?"

Axel kept a firm grip on Roxas' arm as he opened the door again, guiding him inside. Once the door was shut, he was led down a dimly lit hallway into a room without a door. 13 Hearts stood inside, all eyes turning to Roxas as soon as he was inside.

"Whoa," the guitarist, Xigbar, said with a smirk. "He's trashed."

Luxord stood in the corner, not saying a word. Roxas heard the drummer gasp before he came into sight, bending down slightly to get a better look at him. "Jeez, the poor thing, look at him," He grabbed Roxas' chin and used his hand to push back the blonde bangs. "His cheeks are bright red! Who gave you alcohol?"

Roxas smacked the hand away and glared. "Stop it." He turned to Axel, or at least tried to. He ended up having to grip on Marluxia's shirtsleeve for support. "What the fuck are you trying to do?"

Axel rolled his eyes, holding his hand up and revealing Roxas' half-finished bottle of beer. "What the fuck is this? Not that I mind you drinking or anything, I was doing a lot worse at your age," he stated. Roxas glared at him. So Axel was the type of person who endorses underage drinking. Interesting. "…But you can't do that here. Traverse is super strict about stuff like that."

Axel tossed the bottle to Luxord, who let a drop or two fall on his tongue before placing it on the folding table that was set up against the wall. "Not terrible... I'm impressed. He must have some taste after all."

"Did you take me here so I could get… be made fun of?" Roxas asked, the words becoming more difficult to find.

Axel took Roxas' shoulders in his hands and pushed him back slightly, making sure he wouldn't fall. When Roxas felt the back of his knees collide with a chair, he collapsed into it and sulked. "Of course not, Strife, we're not like that."

Roxas sometimes had a hard time imagining that Axel actually knew his name. It crashed back down on him quickly that the reason why he was here tonight was to negotiate. "That's right," Roxas muttered, shaking a finger and eventually pointing at Axel. "I need to talk to you. My wife –my fiancée-, you know, she really, _really_ wants you guys to play at our wedding."

Axel frowned slightly, looking over to his band. Luxord shrugged noncommitaly, Marluxia nodded an affirmative, and Xigbar shook his head. "No way," Xigbar stated. "We're, like, booked solid for weeks."

"But the wedding isn't until December!" Roxas countered, turning his dizzy gaze to the guitarist for a brief moment. "And you guys… You guys are really good. I mean, I still don't like the true music you play, but my fiancée really likes you. In the end, this is her day more than mine. I'd do anything to make her happy."

There wasn't a reply from the band and Roxas bowed his head slightly, expecting rejection. "He does sound sincere," Luxord commented. This got a dissatisfied groan from Xigbar, and the blond bassist shot him an angry look. "The lady spends a lifetime wishing for the perfect wedding, years finding the perfect man, and months planning the perfect day. If she wants us to play that much…" Luxord turned to look at Axel, "…Then I think we should play the show."

Marluxia chose to put in his two cents. "It's just one night. And we could use the money. Weddings are always a blast, anyway!"

Axel gave Roxas a hard look, his hand tapping against his lips as the cogs worked overtime trying to come up with the proper solution. "Anyone can sound sincere," Axel said, "but it takes someone special to act on it."

Roxas looked up into Axel's emerald green eyes. "What's the catch?"

"We'll play your wedding," Axel confirmed. "But since you're obviously going to give us a hard time, we need a favor. You see, our normal stagehand is leaving us soon to go back to college. We need someone who can unload the trailer, set up the drums, and maybe help Squall with the sound."

"I can't do all that," Roxas slurred, an angry glower growing across his brows.

Like a scale, Axel's red brows rose while Roxas' skulked. "Really? You won't do this small favor for us no matter how much your girl wants us?" He took Roxas' heated silence as a yes. "Don't worry so much. We'll teach you."

There was a knock on the side of the door, and a man stood in the hall looking at them coughed loudly. "You're back on in three minutes, guys. Time to go."

"Wait a second, Axe. How will he remember anything of this? He's smashed," Xigbar reminded.

"Right you are, my good man," Axel said with a grin. He reached into Roxas' back pocket.

The blonde's eyes widened and he pushed Axel away. "What're you doing?!"

"Relax, fanboy, I'm just giving you a reminder," he muttered, taking Roxas' silver cell phone from his pocket. Reaching into his own back pocket, Axel pulled out his red cell phone. On Roxas' phone he sent himself a text message, and soon his own phone buzzed and lit up with Roxas' number. "I'll send you a reminder in case you forget," he told Roxas, who's focus seemed to be more on the floor than the singer. The poor blond really was too drunk to remember anything right now. The most sinister idea crept into Axel's mind. "Hey, Marly, do you still have that silver sharpie?"

Finding the marker on the vanity, the pink haired man handed it over to the frontman. "It looks like he's crashing," he commented, noticing how Roxas was yawning and looking like he could fall asleep in the green room right at that moment.

"Good," Axel stated, uncapping the marker and turning Roxas' head into a decent angle. "Find whoever brought this guy here, okay?"

**000ooo000ooo000ooo000**

Roxas woke up the next morning stuck to the floor of Hayner's kitchen. Dried spit cemented his cheek to the vinyl wood and it smarted when he peeled himself up. The morning sunlight dripping in from the crooked blinds immediately greeted Roxas with a hangover.

"…Whu?" he moaned, rubbing his eye. He never remembered coming back to Hayner's place at all. Using the counter for support, he pulled himself to his feet and leaned on the wall to guide him to Hayner's bedroom. He saw his friend sprawled out across the bed, still snoring loudly.

Roxas rubbed his cheek and tried to scratch off some of the dried spit. He walked into Hayner's bathroom and turned the water on, splashing some on his cheek and rubbing the spit away. When he looked in the mirror to check his reflection, he saw something much worse than crusty spit.

" **_AXEL!_ ** "

**_xxx_ **


End file.
